The Savior

The Savior is a gargantuan statue of The Dark Knight Sparda, brought to life by the Order of the Sword, which appears in Devil May Cry 4. It was brought forth by the Order of the Sword so that it can be used to conquer the world and purge it of demons, and was housed in the Advent Chamber until it was awakened. Nero first encounters the Savior in Mission 11: The Ninth Circle, and Dante battles it in Mission 18: The Destroyer.

Description
The Savior is a large, humanoid statue designed to resemble the Order of the Sword's idealized concept of Sparda. In addition to its halo-like horns, the Savior has feathery embellishments on its head, neck, shoulders, wrists, calves, and midriff, giving it an angelic appearance. Though it is a demon, it is often seen as a god, and its exterior holds several azure jewels composed of a millennium's worth of demonic matter and spiritual essence melded together. When activated by Sanctus, it gains golden, circular wings.

Devil May Cry 4
In order for The Savior to be activated, it must absorb one with the blood of Sparda, and it can then be controlled by one who carries his ancient sword. To this end, the Order endeavored to lure in Dante by retrieving the Yamato and opening the Hell Gates. Not only did Dante come to Fortuna, but his partner Trish brought them the Sparda sword in an attempt to infiltrate their organization. However, they were unable to capture Dante fast enough, and instead decided to use Nero as The Savior's source of blood. Sanctus managed to lure Nero to The Savior's resting place by kidnapping Kyrie, and tried to convince him to be absorbed by having the statue also absorb her. Though he refused and tried to fight back, he was ultimately taken in by The Savior, and Sanctus took the Yamato from him.

In control of the awakened Savior, Sanctus had Agnus open the true Hell Gate with the Yamato, and with the aid of the Order's 'Angels' destroying the escaping and invading demons in a show to convince the citizens of Fortuna it was their messiah. However, Dante followed The Savior back to town, and not only did he destroy the minor Hell Gates on the way, but he was able to retrieve the Yamato and destroy the true Hell Gate as well. He was confronted by Sanctus and The Savior in the sky above Fortuna, but was able to weaken it by destroying the jewels on its surface. He then helped Nero escape from the heart by giving him back the Yamato. Nero then proceeded to the statue's Sacred Heart, where he defeated the ascended Sanctus, and rescued Kyrie.

With Sanctus defeated, The Savior is rendered into an immobile statue. As Dante, Nero, and Kyrie return to town, The Savior suddenly reawakens as The False Savior (偽神) by assimilating with Sanctus's remains and taking on his facial features. However, merging with Sanctus actually weakens The Savior, making it much weaker than it was earlier (hence the "False" title). After overpowering its powerful but slow and clumsy fists with his Devil Bringer, Nero jumps high in the air and uses the Devil Bringer to grab on The False Savior's head. As it tries to rise back up, Nero tightens his grip and pulverizes The False Savior's face into a cloud of grey dust, destroying both Sanctus and The Savior once and for all. After losing its face, The False Savior is seen collapsing to the ground.

Inside the Statue
The Savior's inner chambers consist of a palatial stairway from the organ in which Nero was kept to the heart of the Savior itself, where Sanctus Diabolica resides. Each level of the stairway contains a Dice Game that unlocks the door to one of the Savior's inner Heavens—lairs where Nero is forced to fight apparitions of previously defeated bosses. These Heavens can also be accessed by any of the purple circles on other Dice Games.


 * Sky Above Fortuna: The floating platforms above Fortuna where Dante fights with the Savior.
 * Machina Ex Deus : A strange hallway with demon eyes growing in the stone walls and stone pillars surrounding the stairs.
 * Stairway to Heaven: An ornate stairway within a gigantic, living cavern. The terraces at every floor contain angelic statues used as lampposts, as well as Dice Games.
 * Heaven: Arma : First Heaven, lair of Angelos and mimicking the battleground of the fight with Angelo Credo.
 * Heaven: Ignis : Second Heaven, lair of Berial.
 * Heaven: Nix : Third Heaven, lair of Dagon.
 * Heaven: Draco : Fourth Heaven, lair of Echidna.
 * Heaven: Vermis : Fifth Heaven, lair of Angelo Agnus.
 * Sacred Heart: The heart of the Savior itself, and lair of Sanctus Diabolica.

Powers & Abilities
The Savior, once awakened, is an invincible golem that protects its user and wields immeasurable power, as well as the ability to fly. Despite its size, it proves to be quite agile when it tries to smash Nero or sweep Dante off the floating rubble, itself levitated due to the sheer power of The Savior's aura. However, it truly shines in its demonic power. Wielding the rare power of light, The Savior can summon bolts of light energy that can easily wipe out masses of demons, as if smiting them like a god. It can also fire orbs of darkness and as well as explosive blasts of energy as well. Its most fearsome attack is a massive beam of concentrated destructive energy. On its legs, chest, head, shoulders and hands contain thousands years worth of both demonic essences, which serve as a weak point of sorts. However, despite the loss of its jewels, it can still use its demonic powers. Although on the outside it appears as a figure of holy significance, its interior houses an entire dimension of demonic origin. As a vessel for Sanctus, he is able to emerge from any part of the golem's body at will.

Weaknesses
Being a massive golem, it bears a tough exterior that is impervious to any damage. Yet, Dante finds a way to weaken its strength by destroying the jewels around its body. This process makes it more vulnerable to Dante's weapons. Dante manages to weaken the Savior enough for him to hand over Yamato to Nero through a hole in the chest jewel. After Nero's victory over Sanctus, The Savior falls from the sky and is unable to use its powers. This opportunity allows Nero to grab the Savior's head with his Devil Bringer arm and pulverize it.

The Savior cannot be damaged by normal means, hence it can only be hurt by using demonic weapons against it, like Yamato and even demonic parts like Nero's Devil Bringer. It cannot be damaged when using man-made weapons such as the Red Queen or the Blue Rose.

Development
Early concept sketches in the artbook, Devil's Material Collection show that a female design for The Savior was considered, but was later cut in accordance to the character, Sparda's gender.

Background
In many religions, a savior is a figure who helps his or her followers achieve salvation at the end of days. In Abrahamic lore, the savior is also referred to as a messiah, and usually refers to Jesus.

The role of The Savior in the game is an allusion to "The False Prophet" in the book of Revelations. Such similarities are their angelic appearance, yet demonic in nature. Moreover, the propaganda of Sanctus in deceiving the people of Fortuna, parallels the False Prophet's agenda to deceive people by means of fake "miracles".

Trivia

 * The Savior's beam attack is similar to Dante's Majin Form beam attack in Devil May Cry 2.
 * The Savior bears some resemblance to main antagonist of Bayonetta, Jubileus, the Creator: both are portrayed as gigantic living statues regarded by their followers as "gods"; both were constructed in the center of a tall skyscraper structure; both must absorb one of the main characters to be activated; both are final bosses in their respective games; and both are defeated by the efforts of two main characters.
 * The Savior is very similar to Mundus in terms of combat, which is ironic as it was built to resemble Sparda.